Clive Hopkins

As Sydney recovers from another Mardi Gras hangover, a group of traffic experts is already planning road closures and logistics for next year's event.

"We'll debrief from an event the next day, and then start planning the next year's event straight away," says Brendan McNally, senior major events planner at the Transport Management Centre.

The centre is responsible for managing traffic flows at all major events in Sydney, from last week's parade to the Sydney Marathon and City2Surf.

Advertisement

It coordinates the efforts of all the interested parties in a big event, from the event organisers to NSW Police and emergency services, the State Transit Authority, RailCorp and Sydney Ferries.

"Beyond that, it's basically anyone who has an interest, and depending on the location the negotiations could include the City of Sydney council, Centennial Park, the Royal Botanical Gardens, or the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority,"Police Inspector Paul Carrett from the State Planning Unit says.

With this year's Mardi Gras attracting 9000 people in the actual parade, roughly 1000 volunteers, and an estimated 150,000 spectators, the potential for something to going pear-shaped is obvious.

The Mardi Gras Parade has followed the same route for decades, but the details of the road closures around the route are always up for consideration.

"In the past, we closed Elizabeth Street in the CBD for the start of the Parade, but it's now open to traffic," says McNally. "It opens up a north-south corridor, and helps participants and spectators get to the event on buses."

Communicating the details of road closures is obviously a key part of making any event run smoothly. Two weeks prior to the Mardi Gras, the Transport Management Centre swung into action, placing permanent and portable variable message signs in locations where roads would be closed or otherwise restricted.

The internet plays an increasingly important role in making traffic flow smoothly, with live feeds on www.livetraffic.com allowing motorists to see which roads were closed and the best way to avoid congestion.

It's the responsibility of the event organisers to inform all residents and businesses within the area where roads will be closed, and this forms part of the transport management plan that organisers submit to all the agencies involved in planning the event. This year's Mardi Gras Parade had the added complication of two brand new residential buildings, slap bang in the middle of the parade route.

An important part of any planned road closure, and a frequent bugbear for drivers, is the establishment of clearways, often some distance from the actual closures.

"Clearways, though, are often misunderstood," says McNally. "They're essential to provide the additional capacity for the extra traffic that's diverted from the closed roads."

On the day of any major event, a Police Commander takes charge from the Police Operations Centre in Surry Hills, working jointly with representatives of all interested agencies who are in attendance. For Mardi Gras, the Transport Management Centre in Redfern was operational from 6am, when all the clearways came into operation, until all the roads re-opened.

The greatest concern for anyone involved in events featuring road closures is always an unplanned incident. The Transport Management Centre runs extra emergency crews on the day to deal with anything that might arise.

"Clearly, it's even more difficult to re-route traffic around a major accident when roads are already closed," says McNally.

Vicktor Petroff, Producer of Parade at this year's Mardi Gras, says that the key to a successful event is accommodating the needs of both event goers and the general public.

''An event that goes well is one that balances both groups - those attending, and those going about their normal business".

Of course, in true show business tradition, it's not over until it's over, and getting it right at the end of an event - the ''bump out'' as it's known - is as important as everything that comes before.

"The bump out for Mardi Gras now moves from east to west, moving people towards the city for better transport options," says Petroff. Police officers on the ground closed roads temporarily at this stage, to facilitate the safe and rapid dispersal of people away from the event.

The expertise built up in Sydney over the years is now being extended to events in regional NSW, with the same people now involved in the road closures for events such as the World Rally Championships in Coffs Harbour, and the Port Macquarie Ironman Competition.

While events like Mardi Gras or City2Surf are planned a year in advance, some events have to be organised in as little as two weeks - and not all of them get approved.

"We had a car rally in Camden in May last year," says Carrett, "and on the day, there were 5000 cars instead of the estimated 2000. We had to close it down."